


Artificial vs. Natural

by Kaladina



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Fake AH Crew, Prosthesis, Scars, mentioned blood and injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 00:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18021185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaladina/pseuds/Kaladina
Summary: I was quite fascinated by the idea of Ryan with heterochromia, so have my take on that one.





	Artificial vs. Natural

“James Ryan Haywood! You have glass stuck in your head, and I saw that bullet hit you. No way your mask deflected that. Now take it off, or I swear I’ll cut it up!”

Jack Pattillo was a scary person. Godspeed to anyone who sparked her ire. Ryan suddenly regretted telling the crew his full name. Now, his mask was the last thing standing between them actually. And his face paint. And all the things he’d never told anyone. Like the fact that the Vagabond only had one working eye. Through the mask, it was hard enough to get a good look at them but without the mask?

“Ryan!”

Right. Jack. Injuries. Well, suffice to say jumping through windows wasn’t half as easy as movies made you believe. Especially, when you’re running from a rival crew and the police and the K9. Defeated, Ryan slowly pulled off the skull mask. He didn’t look up, but he could feel the stares of the others on him. He knew what they were looking at. His face wasn’t special or anything, however, there was something fundamentally wrong. Someone gasped. Ah well, secrets never last forever.

Under all the grime, blood and the face paint, a long deep scar run from his hairline through his left eye and down to his jaw. And still, there was an eye looking out at them. It was normal looking enough. And under normal circumstances, no one would see anything wrong at all.

Cool hands tilted Ryan’s head towards the shower head. Carefully, Jack washed out some of the glass and picked the rest with a pair of tweezers. Then she dressed the wound and switched to needle and thread to stitch up the gash on his chin.

When she finished up, Michael asked, “Dude, what happened there?” He gestured to Ryan’s face.

“That’s rude, Michael!”, Gavin exclaimed. Ryan chuckled.

“What? You were all thinking it. Might as well just ask,” Michael grumbled, crossing his arms.

Ryan didn’t answer for a moment, taking his time to wash off the rest of the face paint. He didn’t really mind but he had to think about it a few seconds. It’s been a very long time.

“Quite a few years ago, there was a really big fire where I lived. I remember there being children in the apartment next to mine and I was going to get them out. I actually did get them out but before I could make it out myself the building collapsed. A steel cable snapped and caught me across the face. I woke up in a hospital with more scars and one less eye. Nothing to write home about, really.”

And to Ryan it was nothing to write home about. It had happened more than a decade ago. Also, having one eye didn’t impair him as much as people tended to believe. Sure, his visual depth perception was gone, and he had a bigger blind spot than people with two eyes, but that was about it. He never enjoyed scuba diving anyway and roller coasters made him feel nauseous.

“Can you take it out? The eye I mean,” Geoff asked.

Ryan rolled his eyes. It was always the same. But since he’d need to do so later anyway, he decided to show them.

“Yeah sure, I’ve got to clean it now and then, so.” He pressed down on his under eyelid and let the prosthesis slide out. Somewhere in the background, Gavin gagged. Ryan chuckled no surprise there.

“It’s a ceramic shell. I’ve had that one for longer than one probably should. And I might have stolen it; so no, it’s not custom made. That’s why it doesn’t match my eye-color,” Ryan explained calmly. It had been a hassle to find a ready-made prosthesis that kinda fit in the crate of artificial eyes he’d stolen. No use hoping to find one that also matched the other eye. Right there was another reason for wearing the mask and face paint as well. They hid any redness around his eye from where the prosthesis irritated the skin. He could go and have one made that fit perfectly. He just never really found the time and over time had gotten used to the constant pain. No, he wasn’t masochistic. At least Ryan didn’t think so.

With care, Ryan washed the shell with warm water. Then, he put it back in.

“That’s why you always walk into the coffee table!” Gavin crowed suddenly. “Your depth perception is off, and you can’t see how far apart things really are, right?”

“That… ‘s astoundingly smart. But yes, that’s correct,” Ryan said surprised. He hadn’t thought the Brit would make the link so fast.

And that’s all he would say on that front. And if Ryan walked into the coffee table the next morning, no one said anything. And if he poured coffee on the table because he missed his mug, Jack just picked up a rag and helped him clean it up. No one said a thing. And if Geoff badgered him into finally getting a custom-made prosthesis a few weeks later, and Ryan almost cried because his new eye didn’t pinch and was actually comfortable to wear, no one said anything either. It was just how things worked.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
>  
> 
> Kudos, comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated :)


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